Page 67 of The Alpha's Broken Oath

I’ve missed her. I’ve missed my boys, and I’m ready to beg for her to listen to my side of the story.

The minute the elevator doors open, I rush down the hall to my office, oblivious to the fact that I can’t smell Winter’s scent on my floor.

Opening my door, the excitement of seeing Winter shatters on the floor.

I can’t see Winter in my office.

Her workstation doesn’t have her in it. In fact, it looks empty, and I don’t like it.

The only odd thing in my office is the white paper on my glass desk, the one that sticks out like a sore thumb.

I move towards my desk, with my brain ticking murderously.

I take the white paper, the words resignation letter and Winter’s name on it, churning my rage.

Am I losing her all over again?

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

WINTER

The mug holding my coffee feels so cold against my hands. Perhaps it is matching the numbing cold that has engulfed me and made it hard to breathe.

I gaze at the brown liquid, my wolf’s pain radiating all the way from my consciousness to the heart that’s beating painfully in my chest.

Speaking makes me feel like I’ll break.

Admitting my mistakes feels like I’m getting a slap in the face.

The words, “You were wrong about him,” engrave every inch of my mind, and trying to seem okay only crushes me further.

“Winter,” Luka’s voice, soft to a fault, washes over me. His hand reaches out against mine, and he rubs my knuckles tenderly.

I don’t want that.

I don’t want to sit in this small cafe, broken and getting consoled.

I promised myself I'd never cry over a man. I’d never cry over him.

“Everything will be okay. We’ll help you find a new job. My sister’s boyfriend works for a great company downtown. I can recommend you, and you’ll get the job in no time,” Julie offers with a concerned smile.

The minute I got in the elevator, going up to Deacon's office with my resignation letter, I knew it would be difficult.

So, I dropped the letter and called my friends, and ten minutes later, here we are in our favorite cafe.

I told my friends I was resigning and that I can’t work for Deacon anymore. They didn’t ask questions.

Looking at them now, those hot tears I’ve been holding for so long spill like flash floods.

“I let him mark me,” and the mark throbs so much more than it did when we were in Deacon’s house. “Beneath this scarf…is his mark on me. Funny thing is I was the one who asked for it. I-I begged him. Can you believe that? I begged that son of a bitch to put his fangs on me when…he already had his Luna waiting for him back home.”

If Julie and Luka are surprised by the news, they don’t show it.

They don’t judge me, but they should.

I fell for Deacon’s charm twice. The first time I was a child, the second time…I'm an adult. What does fall for the same trick twice say about me?

“Imagine the surprise of seeing him…being kissed by another woman. And worse, imagine the woman introducing herself as his Luna while I stood there in his house with his children and his mark on me. How could I have been so stupid? How could I… I let him break me a second time?”

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